Years ago my very dear friend Bishop Henry Hill told me I should always carry in my heart one seemingly unresolvable problem.

At the time, the war between Iran and Iraq had been going on for years with no possible end in sight. There were terrible casualties on both sides and there was no dialogue between the two combatants. So I took on the resolution of this problem by carrying it in my heart. Because I had no idea of what to do to end it and because I saw it as being a longstanding, unresolvable problem I 'knew' this was the right way to go about it. My intention was, that by carrying it in my heart, I would be in relationship with it and this would be my way of being responsible for helping to resolve it. The place to start was in my heart.

The war is now over. Did my efforts help? I think so. Can I prove that my efforts helped? Only by the result — the war is over.

I took on a world problem, I could have just as easily taken on a personal problem, say of a relationship with a friend or acquaintance that had gone sour.

The content of the problem, what the problem actually is, is not the issue here. The issue is the context of the problem, namely, that it has to be something that in your mind is longstanding and unresolvable.

• The armed standoff between Pakistan and India over Kashmir.
• A long time friend with whom you've had a 'stupid' argument and are no longer speaking to.
• The armed standoff between North and South Korea.
• Something from your childhood that remains unresolved.
• The continuing scourge of AIDS, particularly in Africa.
• Something you've always wanted to do but have been frightened to do.
• The inability of the world's economic powers to come up with a currency trading system that does not cause national currency meltdowns.
• A problem between two friends of yours.
• A daughter not talking to her mother.
• Two brothers refusing to be together.